All the initiatives of the UT Administration to develop the City Beautiful in various aspects are directed towards the goal of empowering the people here through friendly and technology-driven governance, said UT Administrator and Punjab Governor Gen (retd) S.F. Rodrigues, here on Tuesday.

‘‘We have to start from the basics by forming partnerships to achieve long-term and harmonious growth. For this, involvement of every citizen is critical,’’ said Rodrigues, in his address at the ‘Chandigarh Annual Session: 2005-06’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s Chandigarh Council on the CII premises. The session had a discussion on the ‘‘City Beautiful - Gearing for Economic Growth’’.

Speaking about the various initiatives and multi-pronged strategy for holistic development of Chandigarh, Rodrigues said the Administration’s priority areas included diversification in agriculture to leverage Punjab’s agricultural produce, upgradation of medical facilities, conversion of Punjab Engineering College (PEC) into an IIT and establishment of an IIM and college of medical education, development of a film city, establishment of a cultural centre, decongestion zones and development of 18 villages as tourist destinations.

Rodrigues urged the industry to be at the forefront of the Administration’s efforts to gear up for Chandigarh’s economic growth. ‘‘We must understand that our inadequacy and myopic vision will impact our future generations,’’ he said.

UT Finance Secretary S.K. Sandhu said while the services sector has seen unprecedented growth, the challenge is to focus on all sectors to sustain this growth and ultimately to reap the benefits in the form of enhanced productivity, efficiency and employment. He appreciated CII for its initiatives for undertaking a study on ‘‘Chandigarh - Economic and Business Opportunities’’.

Speaking on IT, biotechnology and tourism vision for Chandigarh, IT and Tourism Director Vivek Atray said Chandigarh was on the way to becoming the knowledge capital in the region.

Atray said Chandigarh was a major potential IT hub and that the Administration’s proactive approach has met with ‘‘magnificent response from the industry’’ to ensure an influx of the best names in the industry to the city.

UTI Bank vice-president Anil Kumar, speaking on ‘‘Chandigarh - A Financial Services Hub’’, said Chandigarh’s development as a financial hub would lead to retail going premium and ensuring economic growth. CII’s northern region chairman Ajay S. Shriram said the desired growth should be people-centric, quality-oriented and inclusive,rather than being exclusive.

CII Chandigarh Council chairman Krishan Goyal appreciated the Administration’s initiatives and reiterated CII’s commitment towards a sustainable and synergised growth of the city.